Winter's on it's way out

In the past I've always been excited for winter to come and go quickly. I generally prefer heat over cold and it's the coldest season. When it snows it makes it harder to drive and scraping your windshield in the morning is the worst! I've always felt limited on how active I can be outside during the winter, so I've never really enjoyed it. This is the first year in a long time that I have actually been excited for winter, and it already seems like it's on it's way out! LAME!
For all of you who may be feeling the same way as me right now, I decided to put together a few pictures that I took this year during some of my outings so we can enjoy this wonderful season a little bit longer.
This year I was really looking forward to winter and the cold because I had planned various outings and adventures that can only be enjoyed while it is cold and there is snow! This made the season a lot more enjoyable and fun for me, although I still hate scraping my windshield, but whatever.
I wasn't able to do everything I had planned for, but I was still able to get out a few times and thoroughly enjoy myself. My different outings included bird watching migratory birds that we don't see a whole lot of in the other seasons, camping, hiking, snow-shoeing, tracking a group of deer and stalking a flock of wild turkey (I wanted to see how close I could get!), trying out a new pair of gators, identifying wild plants and starting a zero match fire in the snow! I had a lot of fun and I'm hoping for more snow, but if we don't get it then I'll just start planning early for next year. Whichever season it is, I'm always looking for more fun activities to do! What did you do this year that made your winter fun? Leave a comment and let me know!

Outings 1 & 2, 2014

Once again it's been quite some time since my last post. With the new year I plan on being better with posting and all that, wish me luck.

Work has been pretty busy lately, so unfortunately I haven't been able to get out much the past few weeks. Finally this past week I got out and had some much needed fun! On Thursday I got off of work a little early and decided to do a little hiking up one of the local canyons. It was a wonderful day for hiking. It was a little warmer due to the cloud cover, except for in the mouth of the canyon where it was a little more windy. I hiked for a few miles and saw some beautiful scenery along the way. As I've previously mentioned I'm always on the lookout for wildlife and different varieties of useful plants. On this hike I found a wild rose bush with some rose hips from last season. Rose hips are a good source of vitamin C and are actually quite tasty, they almost taste like strawberry fruit leather... Of course I stopped and had a few...

When eating rose hips you want to remember to cut them open and take out the seeds and small inner hairs. The seeds can be toxic and the hairs can irritate the skin. I'm glad I haven't experienced this, but I've heard if the hairs are eaten, then in the next day or two you get something called "itchy bum."

After work on Friday I went up another of the nearby canyons and did some night snow-shoeing. I shoed in about 2 miles and set up camp via headlamp, camp is easy to set up when it consists of only a bivy sack and sleeping bag. Snow-shoeing at night is quite fun, the moon was out and the snow glowing around me, I barely needed my headlamp. I shoed to an area that was pretty exposed, with not a lot of trees. So I picked out one of the bigger trees to act as a wind-break and set up camp underneath. It's a good thing I did because the wind picked up quite a bit during the night. Saturday morning I woke to a wonderful sunrise, gathered what little dry fuel I could and got a fire going with flint and steel. Later I snow-shoed for a few more miles and then headed back home. Overall it was a great weekend full of fun and a lot of snow!

*When you go out, make sure somebody always knows where you are going and when you will be back*

Mud!

Once again, it has been a little while since my last post. I really hope this doesn't become a habit. Well as you all know, here in the northern hemisphere it is Autumn! What a wonderful time of year and personally, my favorite season. It's still warm outside, but there is sometimes a nice chill in the breeze, which means it's the perfect weather to be active in the great outdoors! Usually I spend my Autumn weekends camping and hiking around. This year has been a bit busier than previous years, so to get the most out of my time outside I have been spending a lot of time mountain biking! I am able to see more and cover more distance in shorter amounts of time on a bike.

On the way up the trails I go slow enough to enjoy the colors and wildlife around me. Ill even stop occasionally to snap a picture of the beautiful trees or the snow capped mountains.

The other day while I was out biking, I decided to go up a little further than usual so I could hit the snow! Word of advice: If you're ever looking for a great leg workout, try peddling a bike through snow. The ride up was good, it took about an hour. The ride down was GREAT, it took about 7 minutes!

 

You always know when you've had a good time, but sometimes others need a little bit of help knowing how fun the experience really was. Some people are great story tellers and you just need to listen to them and you know they've had a good time. Me.... It's a little easier to tell, just look to see how dirty I am afterwards, and you can tell if I had fun or not!

Get outside and have some fun! Until next time...

 



See life

Wow, it has been quite a while since my last post. I would love to say that it's been so long because I have been keeping extremely busy with outdoor adventures, but unfortunately that has not been the case. I did manage to go rock climbing and mountain biking yesterday, but other than that I haven't had too much time to spend in the outdoors lately.

About two months ago I was able to spend some time in California, much needed vacation. While I was there I spent some time at Crystal Cove State Park. For those of you who have been there you know how beautiful the State Park is. It's filled with wonderful beaches and a pretty landscapes. Most people go to the beach to lay out in the sun, play in the water, etc. Those activities are fun, but I had a more enjoyable time admiring all the different forms of life around me, and seeing how many I could find. Living in Utah doesn't give me the opportunity to go to the beach much, so this was a great chance for me to be in a new environment and really admire the different plants and animals I don't usually see. Sometimes we get so used to what is around us that we forget to really 'see life.' Here are some of the things I was able to find at my day at the beach! Let me know what you think.

Wilderness preservation.

Yesterday morning I had a pretty sad experience out on the dike at Utah lake. I drove out to relax and do a little bit of bird watching, something I do pretty regularly, but this time I took some garbage bags and gloves. The amount of garbage I picked up in just two hours was quite depressing.

This post may be a little bit more boring than others, but I feel it's far more important than other things I could write about. I apologize if I start to rant at all but this tends to be a very touchy subject for me.


I find it very sad, the amount of litter and garbage you can find on a hike in the woods, in a secluded mountain river or even in our streets and local parks. Generally somebody who litters has some convenient excuse like, "I didn't have a garbage can" or "it will break down eventually." These are silly reasons and poor excuses for being lazy and dirty. As I was picking up garbage yesterday, it was sad to see the results of people's junk. I picked up an oil can that was floating in the water, all around it the water was just filthy and the plants were dead. I found a dead bird that looked like it had choked on a mouthful of something, probably somebody's trash. I found a variety of garbage, everything from candy rappers to car batteries. I even found a bag of trash and some diapers. It was disgusting.

I've mentioned before that the purpose of this blog is to help people appreciate and respect the beauty all around us. I feel that once you've gained a deep respect for nature and our environment the "convenience" of littering becomes a lost habit. Luckily my family growing up was taught to never litter, we would even go out as a family to the local park and pick up garbage on a semi-regular basis. That may sound gross and boring, but it was always good to spend time as a family and it always felt so good to see the results. I wanted to invite anybody reading this to take some time in the next week, or month to go outside and pick up some garbage. Make it a family activity or turn it into a fun date night. The results can be quite satisfying. You don't need to go far out to find garbage, pick up your street or stop by the local park. For those of you who live around the Provo area here in Utah, come out this next Saturday morning at 7:00 to the dike at Utah lake and help me clean it up (drive down center street and turn left right before the bridge that leads into Utah lake marina). I'll have plenty of trash bags, you'll probably want to bring gloves. Spread the message and let's pick up some trash!

P.S. I would love to see comments on this post about your litter cleaning experiences! Thanks.

 It's sad to see the condition of even our State and national parks.

Wild delicacies

As you well know, I love spending time in the outdoors. I have a deep appreciation for nature and wildlife, and what nature provides. Hence the reason I started this blog. One habit I have gotten into any time I go hiking, biking, climbing, etc, is looking at the plants around me and trying to identify them. "Is this plant harmful or helpful?" "How was this plant traditionally used by the local indigenous people?" and the question I ask myself most of all, "Is this plant edible!?" This past week I have been riding my bike on the local river trail in the evenings for exercise and fun. I decided to take my time one evening to identify the plants I had previously been zipping by. This is what I found!

To start off very basic and easy, I found a lot of dandelions. Most people see dandelions as weeds or obnoxious plants that have parachuted seeds that just come up everywhere you don't want them to. Dandelions are actually very healthy and useful as a green to help supplement your diet or a plant that can help clear up your skin. All parts of a dandelion are edible. The best in my opinion are the leaves while they are still small (if they get too big they may become bitter), the pre-mature flower buds and the tube like stalks. The roots can also be tasty roasted.

I continued along the trail and soon found some thistles. Again, the plant appears to be another weed but is actually edible and quite good, after you remove the spines of course. Just like dandelions the premature flowers and stalks are pretty good, after they've been peeled and roasted.

Further down the trail I was able to identify multiple varieties of fruits including two different type of plum, chokecherry, Oregon grape and mulberry. I also found some honeysuckle and white dog-wood osier, but wouldn't recommend eating those. The chokecherries and Oregon grape were quite bitter tasting, but I have since picked and dehydrated them and now they taste quite good. If you're looking for a real treat try some dried rose-hips, they taste almost like strawberry fruit leather and are quite addicting. Just make sure you clean the insides out first, don't eat the seeds or fine hairs that tend to irritate the skin.

The point of all this is that there are plenty of edible's all around us, we just need to know where to look and what to look for. Learn what types of plants are in your area or if you're camping or visiting a new area, learn beforehand what types of plants are there. You never know what may happen and it's always better to be prepared.

A word of caution. If you are not familiar with a plant, DONT eat it. The majority of plants are either toxic or non-edible. Even with plants that you identify as edible, if you've never eaten it, try a little bit first and wait to see if you have any reactions. Always do your homework, many edible plants can cause ill effects if eaten too regularly or in large amounts.

 

 

 

Picture #1- Mulberries
Picture #2- Chokecherries
Picture #3- Oregon grape
Picture #4- Rose hips

 

 

The beautiful, majestic.... skunk?

So I wanted to try something new. I grew up always learning and reading about animals and plants and whatnot, just because I thought it was interesting. But I have come to realize that for the majority of the human population, that is not a preferred activity. So every once in a while I will be writing specific posts about different animals that I am just interested in at the time, or that I think are greatly misunderstood. This time I've chosen to focus on the skunk.

This just may be the smelliest animal in the entire animal kingdom. This mammal is part of the Weasel family. A "family" of mammals that all have scent glands, although the skunk is definitely the worst. Skunks get their bad reputation because of their stink, but it's not their fault they smell. All animals have some way they defend themselves, skunks just got stuck with a really bad stink. Some people may not think so bad about them if they knew that many of our perfumes and colognes that we wear have a base of skunk musk because this fluid they spray has such a staying quality to it. Obviously the smell is removed before we ever put it on, but the base is still there.

Skunks are omnivores, which means they eat both plants and other animals. The majority of their vegetation diet consists of different berries and fruits, while their main food sources are small rodents, insects, lizards and frogs. Their are a few different varieties of skunks that live in the U.S, the largest and most common being the striped skunk, the others are the Spotted skunk, the Hooded skunk and the Hog-nosed skunk. Skunks are primarily nocturnal which means the majority of their activities and hunting happens at night. Skunks generally live in underground burrows with multiple entrances and exits, sometimes up to eight! They will usually find a vacated burrow from another mammal such as a fox or a badger, they have also been known to share burrows with other families of skunks and even other mammals. Unlike most mammals, skunk fur is not colored for camouflage, it's colored to warn. And  because skunks know that most predators will run, they often become a common casualty to roadkill, they would rather face the vehicle down then run.

Skunks have remarkably bad eyesight (I was counting on this when I got these pictures), to make up for this, their hearing and smell (in more than one way) is incredibly strong. Skunks won't spray unless they feel extremely threatened, just like your perfume bottle they only have a limited supply of spray and they don't want to use it for just any occasion. If you ever run into a skunk just remain still and chances are it will just pass you by. Before skunks spray they will puff up their tales and even do a handstand for you. And if you do get sprayed, tomato juice is the key to getting rid of the stench. Many people will keep skunks as pets once their scent glands have been removed, they are quite cute and can be quite playful. So next time you smell skunk, just think of it as nature's perfume and continue on your merry way.